Various types of furniture such as cabinets, dressers, and the like, have movable components such as doors or drawers that open and close against a frame. The opening and closing of such furniture components may cause damage to the frame under normal usage. In addition, during shipping or handling, furniture parts may swing open with more force than is typical under normal usage and cause additional wear and tear on the furniture piece. This tendency may be particularly problematic for heavy doors, furniture with sharp edges, or furniture made from less durable materials prone to damage.
Devices have been developed for temporarily restraining furniture doors from lateral movement during shipping and handling. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,205 describes a cabinet door clip formed with a pair of U-shaped bends that are configured to limit lateral movement of a cabinet door. Co-assigned and co-pending U.S. Publication No. 2002-0089269 filed Jan. 10, 2001 describes a cabinet door clip configured for restraining furniture doors from both vertical and horizontal movement relative to a frame during shipping and handling. The disclosures of both U.S. Pat. No. 3,997,205 and U.S. Publication No. 2002-0089269 are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. However, even when a door, drawer, or other movable furniture component is restrained during shipping, damage can occur. For example, many furniture clips allow some motion, which may be significant enough to cause damage to furniture surfaces.
Damage from movable furniture components can also occur during normal usage. Various cushioning devices have been made to protect furniture at the interface between a frame and a movable part. Such devices can typically require a hard plastic portion to hold the device in place and a softer plastic portion to provide a cushion. Devices made from two types of plastic materials of differing rigidity may be expensive and cumbersome to make. Alternatively, adhesive may be used to affix a soft plastic or rubber cushion to the point of contact to protect furniture parts. However, adhesives can leave undesirable glue residue on the furniture piece and harm furniture finishes.